Information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics must be acknowledged responsibly whenever it is used. Citing, or referencing, is important for several reasons, including acknowledging that one has used the ideas, words or data of others. Accurately citing sources used also allows others to find and use the original information.

The aim of this document is to provide guidance on how to cite ABS material. The style suggested in this guide is based on the author-date system as outlined in the Style manual for authors, editors and printers (2002). This system uses in-text references and a reference list or bibliography at the end of the work giving additional details to help the reader locate sources. Universities, educational institutions, corporations and other users of ABS statistics may have their own guidelines for citing resources. This document does not intend to supersede those requirements, rather to act as a suggested guide, indicating elements that should be included when citing ABS sources.

Whilst details regarding the citation of different formats of ABS material may differ, there are certain elements that are common to all of them. This includes using 'Australian Bureau of Statistics' as the author/source, the title and date of the item and the compulsory use of the ABS catalogue number where one exists. The abbreviation 'ABS' may be used in in-text references if the full name and abbreviation ‘Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)’ has been used in the first in-text reference.

When citing several works by the ABSthat have been published in the same year in in-text references, distinguish them from each other by attaching a lower-case alphabet to the publication date. For example, for the first item published by the ABS in 2001, the in-text reference would be (ABS, 2001a), the second (ABS 2001b), and so on. The references would be arranged by title in the reference list or bibliography.

Note: electronic publications are covered in the ABS website section of this guide.

Elements to include:

Author/Source, usually: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Some publications such as feature articles, analytical, occasional, working or conference papers may have individual authors.

Year of publication/issue. If there are other date details (e.g. month), place this after the Place of publication.

Full title (in italics). Note: Titles in examples that follow are in bold to comply with web publishing requirements. Please use italics for non-web publications.

Title of series, number in series (if applicable)

ABS catalogue number (if available, prefixed with: cat. no.)

Publisher: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Can be abbreviated to 'ABS' if it is the Author/Source or if a reference has been made to the full name.

Place of publication (usually Canberra, but can be other Australian capital cities)

Other date details (if applicable)

Include the page numbers being referenced unless the publication is being used generally rather than specifically. If a page is being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in-text reference.

Title of video (in italics) Note: Titles in examples that follow are in bold to comply with web publishing requirements. Please use italics for non-web publications.

Date of recording

Format of item: videorecording

ABS catalogue number (if available)

Publisher/producer (usually Australian Bureau of Statistics, or a section of the ABS)

Place of recording (usually Canberra, but can be other Australian capital cities)

Note: Any special credits should be included at the end of the citation.

Examples:

In-text:
(Information for the nation 1992)

In reference list/bibliography:Information for the nation: provision of statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1992, videorecording, cat. no. 1120.0, National Film and Video Productions for the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Jamison, ACT.

Format of item: If the format of data used is not clear from the title, add it in the form: table, map, graph.

The words ‘retrieved from’, followed by the title of the product (in italics) Note: Titles in examples that follow are in bold to comply with web publishing requirements. Please use italics for non-web publications.

Format: CD-ROM

Version used (e.g. Release 3)

ABS catalogue number (if available)

Publisher: ABS

Place of publication: Canberra

**Where numerous tables, maps or graphs have been used, list these at the end of the citation.

B03 Age by sex
B27 Occupation by age by sex
T06 Age of Indigenous persons by sex
U21 Age by Internet use by sex
W05 Weekly individual income by age by sex
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, ‘Adelaide Hills (DC) (Local Government Area), Basic Community Profile: B08 Language spoken at home by sex: French (total persons)’, retrieved from CDATA 2001, CD-ROM, 2nd release, ABS, Canberra.

In citing information from the ABS website direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited so that they can find and use the original source.

Elements to include:

Author/Source, usually: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Some documents such as feature articles, analytical, occasional, working or conference papers may have individual authors.

Year of creation/publication, or of the most recent revision/update.

Title (in italics) Note: Titles in examples that follow are in bold to comply with web publishing requirements. Please use italics for non-web publications.

Format/description of the information (if applicable) in the form: time series spreadsheet, data cube, etc. Do not use for pdf publications.

ABS catalogue number (if available)

'viewed' followed by date of viewing the information in the form: viewed dd month yyyy

Electronic address (URL) in angle brackets. The ABS uses long URLs on its website. It is critical that the whole URL be cited, or readers will not be able to find the cited material. The easiest way to transcribe the URL accurately is to copy it from the address window in your browser and paste it into your citation. If you need to break URLs across lines, break the URL after a slash or before a punctuation mark. Never add a hyphen.

'Geography selected (Census Geographical area used), Profile used (if applicable): Table/Map/Graph number and title (if applicable)’ (all enclosed in single quotation marks). Note: If the format of data (ie. table, map or graph) is not clear from the title, add it after the title.

Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs) contain responses to ABS surveys in the form of unit records. They are excellent research tools, allowing secondary analysis using the most detailed data product available from the ABS. The ABS ensures the confidentiality of all data made available on Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs). This includes removing all identifying information, including names and addresses. Data items that are most likely to be used for identifying individuals are only released in broad categories. The files are also checked for any records with very unusual responses and these records may be altered slightly to ensure individuals cannot be identified.

Elements to include:

Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Date/reference period of survey

Name of survey used in CURF (in italics) Note: Titles in examples that follow are in bold to comply with web publishing requirements. Please use italics for non-web publications.

In reference list/bibliography:
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002, Child Care Survey (2002), Expanded CURF, RADL. Findings based on use of ABS CURF data.

Tailored data

The ABS offers Information and Statistical Consultancy services, where a wide range of data can be tailored to meet clients’ needs. Outputs could include tailored reports, customised data, etc.

Examples:

Report:

In-text:
(ABS 2010)

In reference list/bibliography:
ABS 2010, Demographic profile, City of Onkaparinga and Adelaide metropolitan area. Australian Bureau of Statistics

Customised data:

In-text only: ABS, Customised report, 2010

Dynamically generated tables/files etc. using ABS information

Elements to include:

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Date/reference period of survey or data

Statement: generated [day month year when file/table was generated] using [Title of the survey, data cube, etc (in italics)] Note: Titles in examples that follow are in bold to comply with web publishing requirements. Please use italics for non-web publications.

Include elements for citing the format of product used to generate the table/file, as described earlier in this Guide

In reference list/bibliography:
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000, table generated 26 July 2004 using Population by age and sex, Australian Capital Territory: Population estimates by age and sex, Australian Capital Territory, 2000, cat. no. 3235.8.55.001, data cube: SuperTABLE <insert the URL here>

Email messages are regarded as personal communication as they are not recoverable data. It is therefore sufficient to provide an in-text reference only.
Example:

John Smith (personal communication, 19 March 2004)

There are occasions when the reader could find more detail helpful, in which case a Reference List or Bibliography entry may be given. The ABS requires that email addresses are not disseminated to the general public. To this end we prefer that personal email addresses are not cited in documents. Email citation is only for information contained in the direct message. Data sets sent via email should not be cited as a personal email. See Tailored/Unpublished data on how to deal with these.

In reference list/bibliography (optional)
Smith, John 19 March 2001, First draft of “Strategic directions for CSO and the public library sector” document [email to Jane. B. Smith]

Using

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